Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Eighty
five
percent
of
the
worlds
poor
depend
on
agriculture
to
make
a
living1.
The
poorest
of
these
farming
families
are
left
to
cultivate
land
that
no
one
else
wants.
A
family
farm
might
be
a
steep
eroded
hillside,
an
over-cultivated
plot,
or
a
parched
piece
of
land
depleted
of
nutrients
after
years
of
deforestation.
These
families
can
easily
get
caught
in
a
cycle
of
poverty
and
environmental
degradation.
The
very
act
of
farming
exhausted
land
exacerbates
the
delicate
environmental
balance,
causing
the
land
to
produce
even
less.
Plant
With
Purpose
has
found
trees
to
be
an
effective
tool
in
eradicating
rural
poverty.
Partnering
families
lift
themselves
out
of
poverty
twice
as
quickly
as
their
neighbors
by
planting
trees
and
replenishing
their
farms2.
These
farming
families
are
applying
principles
of
agroecologybringing
together
core
principles
of
agriculture
and
ecology
to
transform
marginal
land
and
dramatically
improve
farm
yields.
Families
produce
more
crops,
eat
better,
and
have
money
leftover
to
save
and
invest
in
their
future.
Trees
play
a
core
role
in
this
transformation.
A
simple
act
like
planting
trees
can
restore
soil
health.
Trees
naturally
protect
and
replenish
soil.
Once
mature,
branches
and
leaf
litter
break
the
fall
of
a
harsh
rain
while
roots
anchor
valuable
topsoil.
These
roots
create
pathways
through
soil
for
rainwater
to
travel
and
replenish
underground
aquifers
allowing
streams
to
flow
year-round.
Leaves
release
water
into
the
atmosphere
through
their
stomata,
which
increases
humidity.
Rows
of
trees
provide
windbreaks
during
storms.
Leguminous
trees
take
nitrogen
from
the
atmosphere
and
add
it
to
the
ground
so
other
plants
can
access
this
necessary
mineral.
Within
three
years
of
partnering
with
Plant
With
Purpose,
70
percent
of
rural
poor
families
lift
themselves
above
the
poverty
line3.
This
change
is
seen
clearly
in
Haiti,
a
country
that
has
been
highlighted
in
the
news
with
stories
of
environmental
devastation
and
rising
poverty.
The
United
Nations
estimates
that
more
than
1.5
million
Haitians
are
threatened
with
malnutrition
due
to
a
three-year
long
drought.
This
is
the
same
country
where
environmental
degradation
led
to
a
cholera
outbreak
that
killed
at
least
9,200
people
following
the
earthquake
in
2010.
Only
two
percent
of
the
natural
forest
still
exists.
Haiti
has
long
suffered
the
impact
of
environmental
degradation,
where
soil
lacks
fertility,
and
the
land
produces
little,
yet
the
country
is
home
to
over
one
million
farms4.
Clermanie
Sanon,
Plant
With
Purpose
farmer
in
Haiti,
understands
the
value
of
trees
in
helping
reverse
rural
poverty.
She
shares,
Before
working
with
Plant
With
Purpose,
my
husband
cut
a
lot
of
trees
to
make
charcoal.
Now,
we
cut
less
and
plant
more.
My
farm
is
protected
against
erosion
and
our
crops
grow
better.
Farmers
like
Clermanie
are
using
trees
to
escape
poverty
around
the
world.
Plant
With
Purpose,
a
Christian
nonprofit
organization,
reverses
deforestation
and
poverty
around
the
world
by
transforming
the
lives
of
the
rural
poor.
Source:
Oxford
Poverty
and
Human
Development
Initiative
-
2014
Multidimensional
Poverty
Index
(MPI)
Source:
Plant
With
Purpose
Multidimensional
Poverty
Index
(2016).
70%
of
participants
have
climbed
above
the
poverty
line
as
compared
with
35%
from
a
control
group
made
up
of
their
neighbors
and
similar
farmers
from
nearby
communities.
3
Source:
Plant
With
Purpose
Multidimensional
Poverty
Index
(2016).
4
Source:
UN
FAO
State
of
Food
and
Agriculture
2014
2
###
About
Plant
With
Purpose
Plant
With
Purpose
(plantwithpurpose.org)
is
an
international
development
organization
that
transforms
lives
in
rural
areas
where
poverty
is
caused
by
deforestation.
For
more
than
30
years,
Plant
With
Purpose
has
provided
lasting
solutions
to
rural
poverty
through
a
community
development
approach
that
integrates
reforestation,
sustainable
agriculture
programs,
economic
opportunity
through
microfinance,
and
local
leadership
development.
Plant
With
Purpose
currently
works
in
more
than
473
communities
in
seven
countries:
Burundi,
the
Democratic
Republic
of
the
Congo,
the
Dominican
Republic,
Haiti,
Mexico,
Tanzania,
and
Thailand.
The
organization
has
planted
over
18
million
trees
worldwide.
For
interviews,
inquiries,
or
additional
information
on
Plant
With
Purpose,
including
videos
or
photos,
please
contact
Becky
Rosaler.
Contact:
Becky
Rosaler
Marketing
and
Events
800.633.5319
Office
760.650.2819
Cell
becky@plantwithpurpose.org
plantwithpurpose.org